Friday, May 29, 2015

Once
a week I post interviews with interesting people about their insights
on their experience of working in the Knitting industry. I’ve noticed
that every one of these individuals makes their living in a slightly
different manner bringing their own unique presence to the knitting
world.

Where do you find inspiration?I
would be poetic to say that nature or architecture, or even particular
yarns inspire me, but the truth is that I mostly find inspiration just
looking at children around me. What do they like to wear? What will be
comfortable/practical? But then of course it has to be fun to knit and
stylish, too!

I
like to spend time online looking at children's fashion, in particular
vintage styles. I'm also sometimes inspired by children's books and
illustrations.

What is your favourite knitting technique?I
am attracted to modular knitting and slightly unconventional
construction methods and I love finding stitches that look tricky but
are very easy to work.

It's
not exactly a technique, but I'm now exploring a more streamlined
construction style, trying to use the properties of specific stitches to
my advantage when thinking about shaping a garment.

How did you determine your size range?I
try to give a large range (sizes 3 months to 8 years) so that when
people buy one of my patterns, they can hopefully get their money's
worth and make several versions as the child grows. This is also why I
like offering patterns that are easy to customize or have "options" like
pockets/sleeve length etc...

Do you look at other designers’ work or are you afraid that you will be influenced by their designs?I
really enjoy looking at other designers' work. I have a pretty definite
style by now and a backlog of ideas, so I'm not worried about being
influenced.

How do you feel about the so called controversy of “dumbing down” patterns for knitters?I
think it's important to be aware of your customer base. I try to make
my patterns very clear and accessible to new knitters so I do include
many helpful tips/stitch counts etc...

However,
I am mindful of the layout of the pattern and make use of footnotes
when I feel like an explanation would be helpful to some knitters for
instance, but might be cumbersome in the body of the pattern. I
also separate the detailed instructions from the heading, so that
hopefully a more experienced knitter will be able to skip the details
and "get" the general instruction at a glance.

How many sample/test knitters do you have working for you or do you do it all yourself?

I
knit my samples myself but I get my patterns test-knit in every size. I
usually have one to two test-knitters per size for any given design.

Did you do a formal business plan?No, though I have some idea of what I'd like to accomplish each coming year.

Do you have a mentor?No.Do you have a business model that you have emulated?No, but I pay careful attention to what "veterans" of this business have to say.

Do you use a tech editor?I
do, and she is really essential to me because I can be forgetful and
make the silliest mistakes, and it's nice to have another set of eyes
(and another brain!) to go over what I wrote and make sure that it
actually all makes sense!

I work from home and have young children so it gets tricky sometimes, but
I am fortunate that childcare is affordable and the norm in Germany
where I live. So it's a bit easier now to separate my life from my work,
and to feel fully engaged in one or the other. When the kids were
small, it was a lot harder. I felt like I was always playing catch up
and feeling frustrated that I wasn't able to design as much as I wanted
to.How do you deal with criticism? I haven't gotten much negative feedback, but if I receive an email from a frustrated customer, I try to respond with as much kindness and understanding as I can and usually get a lovely reply.

How long did it take for you to be able to support yourself?I released my first pattern in 2008 but have only been pursuing this as a business since early 2012, and my business has been growing steadily ever since. I'm very fortunate that I'm able to support myself doing what I love and I'm eternally grateful to my customers and to Ravelry for making it possible!

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career in knitting?Be patient! Designing, writing and grading patterns is a much longer process than most people realize. Having great ideas is the easy/fun part but then there is a lot of work involved before you can release a good pattern.

The second thing is, if you want to be successful, try to be aware of what people actually want to knit, not just what you want to design ;)

What’s next for you?Two of my designs will be featured in two upcoming books this year. In terms of self-published patterns, a few more kid designs are in the pipeline. Later this year, I am planning on releasing grown-up versions of my more popular patterns, so stay tuned!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

This question comes up in classes frequently. Which way do you wrap the yarn to create a yarn over?Most instructions give you the four possible variations of placing the yarn over as follows:A Knit stitch, yo, knit stitch.B Purl stitch, yo, purl stitch.C Knit stitch, yo, purl stitch.D Purl stitch, yo, knit stitch.

Then you are given four sets of directions: A Knit 1, bring the yarn from back to front between the needles, then knit the next stitch with the yarn running over the top of the right needle, the yarn strand will create a yarn over on the needle.B Purl 1, take the yarn from front, over the top of the needle to the back and under to the front again, purl 1.C Knit 1, bring the yarn forward between the needles, then take it back over the top of the right needle and under to the front, purl 1.D Purl 1, leave the yarn at the front after the purl stitch and knit the
next stitch; the yarn will move up and over the needle to
create the yarn over.

I find this creates too many instructions for the novice lace knitter to remember. I prefer the instructions to be based on stitch orientation.

It’s important to understand for most knitters stitches
sit on the needle in a specific way. The yarn from the loop’s right leg is at
the front of the needle. The yarn going to the loop’s left leg is at the back
of the needle. There are knitters who work in other manners, however almost all
reference materials will assume this stitch mount.

Therefore, create your yarn over by wrapping the yarn over the needle in whatever direction maintains stitch orientation for the yarn over.

I find for classic knitters, once they understand what I mean by orientation, the direction of the yarnover becomes immediately obvious as they wrap the yarn around the needle. They see instantly when they go wrong.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Model vs. Mannequin. This topic is hotly contested. I fall on the mannequin side of the debate. I feel beautiful, young, thin models create aspirational looks, however does that create
disappointment for the customer who puts on the garment and realizes
it doesn't look as good on her. Last summer I put on a dress and loved it until I saw it on someone else (she had a knockout figure). I didn't buy it. Models can also narrow the marketing to an age group even for very basic items which are essentially ageless. Like sweaters. On the other hand mannequins can be unrealistic and appear static giving the same look to every garment. My husband who works in a large corporate retail marketing department would argue this is a good thing for consistent branding.Then there is the fit issue. People say they need to see it on a real body. However unless the garments fit the models properly, what's the point? What you see is how it fits them not you with no guarantee it will fit you. This really hit home for me when I was asked to assist in correcting the poor fit of a sweater pattern's shoulders before the knitter checked the schematic and compared it to her own measurements. She assumed the pattern was at fault. What she saw was how it fit the tall thin model not how it would fit her shorter average weight figure.

The photos at the top of The Barbara Franklin Cardigan are not impacted by the shape of my body. The ones at the bottom look very different as the garment molds to my shape.It's my best selling cardigan and I don't think it would be if I modeled it in the pattern. What do you think?

Friday, May 22, 2015

I created this blog to provide a way
of tracking my development as a knitting professional. I occasionally
go back and read old posts. I find the interviews are often even more
enlightening now that I have more experience regarding the topics the
interviewees discuss. Here's one from 2012: Lorilee Beltman, http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2012/05/interview-withlorilee-beltman.html

Recently Lorilee has become known for an interesting new technique, vertically stranded colorwork, and many of her recent patterns include this technique.

The shaping details being referred to are decreases, they reduce the number of stitches to narrow and shape the kitting. They appear at armholes, around necklines and in sleeve caps. A variety of techniques can be used, depending on the
purpose they will serve and the desired look of the finished knitting. Decreases can slant to the right or left, or be vertical depending on what technique is used. When shaping the knitter might
choose to work a left-slanting decrease on the right-hand side of the
garment and a right-slanting decrease on the left-hand side of the
garment. This is done to emphasize the visual detail of the shaping. If the decreases are placed one or two
stitches in from the edge, they become a decorative detail.

Many experts feel placing the decreases inside the knitting as opposed to on the edge makes it easier to seam
the pieces together. I've tried both methods and I have to say I disagree. I rarely knit stocking stitch so I always place my decreases at the edge of the knitting so they will be invisible once
the pieces are sewn together. I don't like the shaping to interfere with the stitch pattern. I've never found it difficult to seam the edges together.

There are many areas in knitting discussion which assume the knitter is working in stocking stitch and questions are answered with that paradigm in mind. This limits our thinking. Details matter if you want to achieve the best possible results.

I've been teaching a new class, Capology. I was surprised by how many students asked why my sleeve cap samples were so smooth and tidy. I knit the samples in stocking stitch and worked my shaping on the edges. The decreases were therefore invisible after seaming. It lead to a lively discussion about why are knitters told they shouldn't place shaping at the edges. When I asked if they had trouble seaming none of them knew because they had never tried it. This leads us to something I always tell students. "Never substitute my judgement for your own". Your knitting style and project materials vary therefore your results will too. I guess I should change to "Never substitute my judgement or anyone else's for your own".

I think somehow the preference for fully fashioned shaping to cut and sew methods in manufacturing has crossed to hand knitting in a non-nonsensical way. What do you think?

Monday, May 18, 2015

Track
what row you are on when you put the work down. You can use a pencil to tick
rows off, or a post it note, or a magnetic board and ruler.

Check
your work frequently, you can more easily correct errors in the next row than
you can many rows later.

Count the
number of stitches of each repeat on the wrong side, purl back row to catch
errors.

How to
eliminate a bunny ear at the cast off edge end. Work cast off to the last two
stitches, k2tog instead of working each stitch separately.

Blocking makes all the difference to ensure
stitch patterns show up in lace. It will improve the look of your knitting for
most projects, especially those made from natural fibres. Start by soaking the
knitting in lukewarm water for about fifteen minutes. Add a small amount of a
wool wash. Remove most of the water from the knitting. Gently press the water
out by rolling up the work in a towel and squeezing. Treat the work carefully,
no twisting or wringing. Unroll the towel after about five minutes. Use
stainless steel T pins to pin out the edges on a towel or blocking board. Start
with the straight edges, for a triangle shawl it’s the top and the centre
spine. Do the top edges first. Tug on the spine to make it perpendicular. Check
to make sure these target areas are totally straight and securely pinned before
working on the lower edges. Pin out decorative pointed edges. Gently stretch
the work and move the bottom edges down again as it work relaxes. Adjust the
level of stretch according to the fibre. Pull more firmly on 100% wool than delicate
silk or cashmere. Do a second pass on the points of scalloped edges. Sometimes
they need a little extra work because the horizontal stretching interferes with
the points being pulled down far enough. Use a spray bottle of water to dampen
the work at the edges only. On the final blocking move the points closer
together to allow more pulling vertically. Just smooth the rest of the shawl
away gently without wetting it or repining. Pin each point and then let the
points dry again before removing from the blocking board.

Read these notes again in 24 and then 48 hours to move the
information from short term to long term memory.

Watch for wandering yarn overs beside stitch markers. If they go
astray, it can cause errors in stitch counts.

Choose
charted rather than text patterns. Knitters who use text stitch patterns struggle to learn
to maintain stitch patterns while shaping with decreases and increases. Knitters
who use charts never need the same amount of help to learn this skill. Chart
knitters generally make fewer stitch pattern errors and find their errors more
quickly.

Ignore
the “knitting police” you aren’t doing it wrong! You are doing it in a
different way.

Learn
where you go wrong habitually and check for that error. I am most likely to
accidentally drop yarn overs so I pay attention by looking at the shapes they
create in the pattern.

Make sure
you review and understand what the chart symbols mean.

Remind
yourself lace knitting is economical. You can buy a lot of lace weight
yarn for not very much money and have the fun of a project which will take you
months to complete. That's a lot of knitting fun which ends with a beautiful
finished project.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Once
a week I post interviews with interesting people about their insights
on their experience of working in the Knitting industry. I’ve noticed
that every one of these individuals makes their living in a slightly
different manner bringing their own unique presence to the knitting
world.You can find Vladimira here and here on Ravelry. She is on Tumbler here.

I get inspired by the yarn itself, when I can feel it and work
with it.Many times I find an inspiration in bed, when I'm falling
asleep.

What is your favourite knitting technique?

It's
hard to say; I like almost all of them (except ribbing). I usually use one
color. When working Stockinette stitch, I prefer the Combination style of knitting
and knitting in rows with a circular needle because it's faster and my hands are
not stiff after long hours of knitting.

How did you determine your size range?

I use the traditional
four sizes S
- XL or six S - 3XL,
depending on the design or the request from yarn companies I work for. I
follow the Craft Yarn Council size charts.

Do you look at other designers' work or are you afraid that you
will be influenced by their designs?

I do all the time, but not with the intention to copy them. I
think that in the age of the Internet, it's not possible not to be influenced
by other designers' work even if you don't want to. I'm obsessed with anything
about knitting and fashion photography. It can be seen on my own Tumbler blog
full of knitwear pictures from other designers.

How do you feel about the so called controversy of "dumbing
down" patterns for knitters?

I think there are skill levels to determine how detailed patterns
should be. It wouldn't make sense to "dumb down" the pattern which is
intended for experienced knitters.

I
learned to knit as a child in Slovakia. My grandmother taught me just knit and
purl stitches - I knitted intuitively and followed almost no patterns. I learned
to sew at a very young age as well. Before I started designing professionally,
I had to do a lot of studying, mostly American patterns. I admit that some of
them seemed maybe unnecessarily detailed to me at first, but it's always better
to be more detailed to avoid knitters' questions after the pattern is
published. I try to adjust to the American market, but I include selvedge stitches in my patterns which is not common in the US.

How many sample/test knitters do you have working for you or do
you do it all yourself?

I do all the sampling by myself and so far I've been able to
handle it as my designs have mostly classic construction. I can't imagine
having the first sample knit by somebody else, as I often change the design in the
process.Knitting is my
favourite part of the designing.

Did you do a formal business plan?

No, just short term planning.

Do you have a mentor?

No. Internet and magazines are my mentors. I learned a lot from Internet
groups of professional designers.

So far, I
haven't had severe criticism.
Knitters who contact me are usually polite, even when they find an error.
Without the feedback I wouldn't be able to grow. When I started the business, I
feared criticism, because knitwear design is not just
about knitting and pretty pictures, but it turned out well.

How long did it take for you to be able to support yourself?

It was more off and on than gradual change. My original profession
is a teacher of Art and English, but I worked in other fields such as
decorative painting, fabric design, illustration or in the office. I started
to work as a freelance knitwear designer about 7 years ago before I moved from
Slovakia to Canada. In Canada, it was impossible to make a living as a
freelance designer right away. When I came back to Slovakia, I designed Christmas lights for one year.
Now I'm able to support myself thanks to designing for yarn companies. It works
better for me than self-publishing, because as a self-publisher you have to be
more out here and I'm quite introverted person. But I still do self-publish and have my website
redesigned.

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career in
knitting?

Don't do it for money. Pay attention to every detail. Try more things to find out what works
for you.

About Me

email contact robinknits(AT)gmail(dot)com
I've been knitting my whole life. I don't even remember learning. I started making garments for myself in my teens and then explored sewing, tailoring and millinery. I want to teach knitters about fit and flattery and turn them into fashion stars!
On my blog you will find lots of interviews with knitting industry professionals, how to tutorials and a variety of posts about what's going on in the knitting world.
I love to come out and speak at shops and guilds. Here's what the Downtown Knit collective said after one of my talks:
“Robin Hunter’s inspiring talk, “The Barbie Factor,” left everyone in a feel-good mood at the conclusion of the May meeting. Heads were nodding in agreement all around ... as she tackled a multi-faced problem faced by many knitters—why don’t we knit for ourselves? She touched on many topics including fashion, body image, media and how it all relates back to our knitting.”
You can see my patterns on http://www.patternfish.com/des/robin_hunter and you can find me on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/people/knittingrobin
My YouTube channel is here:http://www.youtube.com/user/robinknits?feature=mhee